Going out to lunch every day is a sure fire way to bust your budget and expand your waistline. With a little planning, you can enjoy tasty lunches that are better than fast food and healthier to boot! Make-ahead lunch recipes are widely available online, but here are a few ideas to get you started.

Mason Jars

These lunches turn the idea of a traditional salad on its head by putting all of the ingredients into an easily-portable mason jar. You can prepare ingredients in large batches and then divide into individual jars to grab as you head out to work in the morning.

The possibilities here are endless — everything from sushi to BBQ to to burritos. Once you get a hang of how the jars are set up, you’ll be coming up with your own combinations in no time.

Slow Cooker

If you want to meal prep but are short on time, the slow cooker might just become your new best friend. Throw your ingredients in and, a few hours later, your food is ready to pack up for the week.

Just like mason jars, the options for the crock pot are only limited by your imagination. You could go Indian with a curry, Mexican with chili, or Italian with a ragu — just to name a few. If you get sick of eating the same thing every day, many slow cooker meals can be frozen and thawed out later.

Meal Planning 101

Once you decide what you want to make, it’s time to get organized. You’ll need to make a grocery list and have all of your ingredients ready to start cooking.

Once the food is ready, make sure you have enough jars or containers to store it in. Ideally, each day of the week would have its own container for maximum grab and go factor, but you may need to reuse containers throughout the week depending on how many you have or how much room you have to store them.